The 100th Human - Countdown 2012 - by Chris Fenwick

Indecision

2012-01-26T06:51:00.000-05:00

Which job should I take? Which career path should I follow? Which life choice should I make?

We often get stuck in indecision. There are two things about decisions, even big life decisions:
1. There are no wrong decisions. There isn’t some grand and detailed plan, that if we make the wrong decision, we will screw up our whole life. There isn’t a place where it is all written down for us to find and follow. There is only what we feel and what we learn along the way. If our intentions are honest, compassionate, and open to learning more, we cannot go wrong. This does not mean that we will not feel pain, or suffer loss. Life flows in and out of pain and loss, bliss and suffering. But nothing is permanent. We must accept that; whichever path we take, life will give us portions of each. Proceed mindfully. If we are mindful (present in each moment), we are better able to make course corrections along the way.
2. Though there are no wrong decisions, there are those that may optimize our experience in this life. In order to make a good decision for me now, I have to be present in the moment to recognize any clues that my inner being might be telling me about which path to take. We must not blindly walk through our life as if on auto-pilot, but come to the present and take the power back into ourselves.

If we are present, and feel no clear direction, we should stay with it for a little while. But we must not allow indecision to take root in our life. Make a choice – a mindful, thoughtful choice forward. Pick. We set our intentions to be honest, compassionate and open to learning and growing more each day. Then we step forward into life.

The Crooked Path

2012-01-24T06:47:00.000-05:00

When we are young we ask ourselves what will I be when I grow up. When we are in high school, we fret over which college to attend, which courses to take, which degree to pursue. When we graduate from college, we search for which job we should accept or can get. As we age, we wonder if we made the right choices, if a different choice wouldn’t have led to a happier, more successful or more satisfied life. We change jobs. Sometimes we go back to school and learn new skills and change the course of our lives. Sometimes we stay put, resigned. This is our fate.

But we can see it differently. We can stop and engage now.

There are those who find their heart’s work when they are young and pursue the path that feeds their soul all their life. Occasionally we meet these people and are amazed at how right their lives fit with who they are. But most of our paths have more starts and stops, more curves in the road, more detours to navigate, more challenges to overcome. This does not mean that we have not Lived on Purpose. For us, we simply have to look deeper inside, and distill the complexity of our path to a simpler formula.

When have I felt peace? When have I understood bliss? At what moment in my life have I encountered passion for a task or for an idea? When have I felt the joy of offering something of myself and been proud of the result? Look for these clues in your life. You may find that you have had many of them.

As a mother, I can find more than a thousand moments of a Life on Purpose. As a friend, partner, worker, daughter, community member, I can find many more. As a student of life, happiness and peace, I have found countless more moments. If I string them all together, I see the purpose in my life more clearly.

Sometimes we can only see how what we do for a living is on Purpose, when we look deeper into who we are, and to whom we belong. If we give of ourselves and be present with our families, our friends, our co-workers, and our communities, we will find that a Live of Purpose is ours every moment of every day.

The Journey

2012-01-22T06:28:00.000-05:00

Living on Purpose is a journey not a destination. We don’t find our “thing” and then do it happily for the rest of our lives. Well, most don’t, especially today. We change, life changes, everything changes. We can’t fight it, not happily. We can only recognize it and roll with it. Jobs come and go, vocations change, and we change our minds and our hearts regarding those jobs and vocations. To Live on Purpose is to accept, embrace and enjoy the changes. To Live on Purpose is to be present enough in each step of life to see, feel and appreciate where you are now. If we are present and following our right path, we will have moments of blissful purpose, times when our inner being flows out effortlessly creating something beautiful. We will also have moments of wandering or searching. In these moments, we must let go. If we stay present, avoid going into the past or predicting the future, our discomfort will ease. If we stay mindful and relaxed, we can remember that things change and a Life of Purpose is a journey not a destination.

Mindful Living

2012-01-20T06:35:00.001-05:00

Thich Nhat Hanh tells us that “being on the “right path” has to do with the very concrete ways in which you live your life in every moment.” To Live on Purpose is to live in the moment and to intentionally walk each step mindfully. We must be awake, aware and deliberate; not a sleep walker, blindly going through the motions.

If there are areas in my life that I am not pleased with, things I want to change, I cannot ignore them and hope they will change or go away. I have to embrace them and accept myself. In each moment I can deliberately make a different choice. Unaware motion leads to more of the same. Deliberate choices give me the power to change my life.

If we chose to Live on Purpose, we chose to live mindfully and powerfully in each moment.

* The Art of Power, Thich Nhat Hanh, HarperOne 2007

A Life on Purpose

2012-01-14T07:00:00.002-05:00

I ask myself each morning, “What does living on purpose mean to me?” And each morning I find another facet to a life on purpose.

I often feel that my week takes on an intensity of work, responsibility and busyness that needs to be reset on weekends. There is a reset that nature gives that is unlike any other. Being outdoors and moving your body through elements in nature – air, earth, and water, can reset your cells in a way nothing else can. In my part of the world it is cold and windy this January, so I have to bundle up to be outdoors with any comfort. But even bundled, the reset occurs. For me, I have found that any type of outdoor labor that connects me to nature - such as stacking wood for the fire, hauling water for the animals, digging dirt or moving mulch to protect the spring bulbs, trimming tress, shoveling snow, all reset my body in mysterious and powerful ways. If you have children, encourage them to bundle up and go outside to breathe and to play. Take a walk or run or go sledding. Just be outdoors.

When you reset your body and connect to nature in these ways, you can find yourself rejuvenated, your mind cleared and your sense of purpose renewed. You live on planet Earth. Connect to her. When you do, your life and purpose can come into focus.

Your Handprint, Your Life

2012-01-09T06:58:00.000-05:00

The Live on Purpose key is symbolized by a handprint – your handprint, my handprint. My handprint is my unique mark on the world. We must ask ourselves: What is my mark?’ How am I touching the world? How am I touching others?

Handprints are uniquely individual; this lends authenticity to the symbol. Am I being myself? Am I coming from my authentic self? Am I interacting from my soul?

In order to know the answers to these questions, we must be able to go inside of ourselves and listen. Only when we are willing to face and be with our inner self, can we know and present to the world our real purpose.

This is not a once-and-done exercise, but a daily mediation, a daily practice of connecting inside and connecting outside of ourselves. I love how Amit Goswami described it: “do, be, do, be, do.”

Connect inside to know and better connect outside, with others and with life. As we get better at this process, as we learn to Live on Purpose, we shift our consciousness; we shift our lives.

What does 2012 mean?

2012-01-05T06:53:00.001-05:00

What does 2012 mean?
I will tell you what 2012 is all about. This is the year we have the most potential to succeed at what we are here to do. This year is both precious and potent, filled with opportunity for change and growth – more than any other moment in history. Individually and collectively, the odds are in our favor and the tipping point is within reach. Many will ignore this opportunity or simply not believe it is real and it is now. And because of that, there is also a chance that we could fail.

What is Living on Purpose?
It is believing that this is your year. Now is the time to do that thing you have always dreamed of doing. Now is the time to be the person you have always dreamed of being. This year you must believe – in yourself, in everyone around you, and in humanity. Don’t put it off another year, or even another month. Begin now. We need you to live on purpose – start by believing in what 2012 is and can be.

It's Hard to Live on Purpose

2012-01-04T06:57:00.001-05:00

It takes time.
Living on purpose means finding and doing what you love to do. If you can do this for a living, you are blessed. But it may take time before you can support yourself and your family while doing what you love. This means you may have to continue in a job that is less than fulfilling while doing what you love on the side. Depending on what your purpose is, it may never be able to support you.

It’s hard.
Just because you found what living on purpose means, doesn’t suggest its going to be easy. No matter the task, job or mission, sometimes things are difficult, or impossible. Even if you live on purpose, you must still have strength of character and perseverance to see it through.

It’s not you.
Finding and living your purpose is still not you. Your identity is so much more than what you came here to do. You are not your mission on earth, you are not the creation. You are the creator. Keep your perspective.

Still, it is worth it.
Even if it takes a long time, even if it is extremely hard and even if you struggle with your ego to keep perspective, living on Purpose is worth it. If you have ever had the amazing high and sense of rightness that living on purpose gives you, you will know just how much it is worth it.

Countdown 2012 - Living on Purpose 1

2012-01-02T13:06:00.001-05:00

Living on Purpose for me today means:

1. live in the moment, be present with family, friends and coworkers
2. move my body - fit, mobile, active and healthy
3. write - communicate what I am learning as I am learning it
4. read - keep learning
5. speak out, speak up, encourage transformation all around
6. keep it simple
7. ship (read Seth Godin)

Happy 2012 New Year!

2012-01-02T12:57:00.001-05:00

Seven years have passed since I first became fascinated with 2012 and now here it is. What will this year bring? Seven years seemed like a safe amount of time to be interested in (or reliant upon) an “end date.” Now that it is here, that reliance feels a little unreasonable. Will 2012 let me down? Will 2012 deliver all the world needs it to? All I need it to?

I doubt it. I scoff like you, at the end of the world predictions. But I do find myself hopeful that the real positive change we need in the world happens soon, maybe even this year. Experience tells me to be cautious. Do not invest so much, pull back, pull up, diversify your expectations. But part of me wants to bet the farm, go all in – let’s really go for the big shift – revolution- go radical and do what we have talked about, dreamed about and threatened.

In the end all of the mental gyrations are what is truly ridiculous. Things happen no matter what. Whether change will happen is not the issue. It will. It always does. What kind of change is the question.

The only way I will feel real change is if I change on the inside. I must shift first not the world around me. 2012 is an opportunity to change yourself – myself! How many times have I said this in the last seven years since the story of The 100th Human came to me? And yet, 2012 had to arrive before the reality has begun to bloom in my life.

So I am using this year as living, walking meditation, contemplating each key in order, asking myself what it means to me and attempting to embody it. Beginning with the first key, and its symbol which I now have tattooed on my wrist, I am really thinking about what Living on Purpose. How can I live on purpose? What does it really mean to me? Am I here doing and being what I came here to do and be? Am I leaving my mark on this world? These are difficult questions, but now is the time to ask and answer them.

2012 is about personal transformation and global change. The later can’t happen without the former. Begin this 2012 New Year with the intention and commitment to “be the change you want to see in the world,” and find out what Living on Purpose means to you!

Cultivating Our Inner Capacity for Compassion

2009-10-16T21:41:00.007-04:00

Last week I had the amazing opportunity to attend The Mind and Life Institute’s, “Educating World Citizens for the 21st Century,” conference with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, in Washington D.C. It was two full days of mind-expansion and personal conviction. There were many highlights, but for me, the following three points emerged to the fore-front.

1. I love the Dalai Lama! His Holiness (HH), as everyone called him, possesses a unique combination of qualities that makes him immediately endeared to your heart. A “humble monk” is how he often describes himself, as if his opinion should not matter any more than the next person’s. And yet, the level of humility he embodies engenders extraordinary respect by all those around him, including highly influential Ph.Ds. Humility, combined with extreme compassion, gives him a joyful innocence that demands that you smile when he smiles and laugh out loud when he does. He has a way of bringing out the joyful child in all those around him.

His innocence and humility may create a deep level of rapport with his audience, but it is his words that challenge your mind, heart and life. His theme is compassion but should you think that this is some esoteric, feel-good message, think again. He quantifies it in ways that challenge you to think differently and live a better life.

Specifically, His Holiness described two levels of compassion; the first of which is a natural tendency to love and appreciate your family and friends - those that give you life and nurture you in your life. For most people, loving those who love you is natural and easy. But, HH explained that the second level of compassion is for those for which caring might not come as naturally. This level of compassion takes thought, understanding and practice. One must internalize the reality that all 6 billion of us, the inhabitants of the earth, are really one. In fact, the Dalai Lama mentioned this over and over again. “We are the Same,” “We are really One.” What we do affects all the rest of the world. He cited global climate change and the global economy crisis as particular examples of our interconnectivity. "We all want to be happy."

To really understand the reality of our connection to each other, we must continually practice and cultivate our compassionate minds, which in-turn helps determine our emotions. Since we were in the presence of prominent neuroscientists, multiple research outcomes were cited regarding how the mind learns, retains information and changes from early child-hood through to adult-hood. Notably, there appears to be specific time periods when the brain is more “plastic,” which allows it to grow and develop at accelerated rates, though overall the brain is more malleable than once thought. Finding ways to take advantage of those specific time periods, especially by teachers and parents, was discussed in detail and will, no doubt, be the foundational inquiry of multiple research projects to come. As for me, a non-scientist, I was stuck by the simplicity of the idea that we can learn, change and develop throughout our lives; that the brain is more pliable than scientists once thought and that we need to incorporate compassion into what we are learning during those periods and throughout our lives. The fact that we can learn and change was not something new, the fact that we should care more for each other is certainly not new,. But to combine these two concepts in a single conversation with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and multiple leading scientists and for them to propose that this combination will in quantifiable ways rescue our youth and potentially our future, was quite enlightening and is still sinking in.

Personally, I was challenged to “practice” compassion more. The word cultivation was used often, especially by His Holiness. As an avid gardener, I thought about how much work and continual evaluation of my efforts is required to bring to harvest the quantity and quality of fruit and vegetables I cherish. How many other endeavors do I cultivate with such thought and on-going effort? As an American, I have often fallen prey to our society’s addiction to fast and easy. If I cultivated compassion for all other human beings, all other life, with such consideration, reason and concentrated effort over time, would my life not be notably different? What if all of us did so?

2. Teaching children emotional self-regulation and compassion should be part of the curriculum and must begin very early in a child’s development. Therefore teachers must be part of the global strategy to cultivate compassion within the minds and hearts of our children. I purposefully have put the mind before the heart in this text because I believe, like the Dalai Lama, that we must mindfully and purposefully choose this line of thinking before it takes root in the heart. In other-words, it might not come naturally, but must be cultivated, with thought, purpose and practice. Our emotions will embody our habitual thought patterns. And our actions will personify those consistent emotions. This is why meditation and other contemplative or mindful-awareness practices are so very important. These practices illuminate our habitual thoughts, emotions and actions and give us the ability to control those habits and to reform them into new more healthy ones.

In that I was attending the conference in D.C. with Kinder Associates, the creators of Wellness Works in Schools, I was stuck by how clearly their work exemplified the discussions and conclusions coming from the stage. Wellness Works in Schools this year will visit 15 different classrooms weekly, in three separate Pennsylvania school districts, teaching emotional regulation, self awareness, balance, physical well-being and compassion. By utilizing multiple touch/teach-points - auditory (discussion), kinesthetic (movement) and visioning (guided relaxation and meditation), each child is offered admission into accelerated learning. Since Kinder Associates often works with urban children who regularly experience poverty and violence – their program can literally be life-saving, not only for the specific youths they touch but also the whole of their communities. Nowhere else is the failing of our educational methods so obvious and profound as it is when we take time to notice the dismal statistics of our inner-city youth. I was deeply impressed and moved when Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund spoke at the conference. If we are all one, all 6 billion of us, then the fact that 1 in 3 African American males will end up in prison dooms all of us and says in no uncertain terms that we have a lot of cultivating to do. Wellness Works in Schools and its proven curriculum (or similar programs) should be in every school. Suburban school children may experience a different social environment but the need for emotional regulation and compassion still permeates their classrooms and homes. We must take advantage of early “plasticity” in the brain and avail the next generation of the tools needed to create peace and compassion in our society as a whole. Our future demands it.

3. Dr. Peter L. Benson stuck me so deeply that I was choked-up during most of his talk. This tall man, who like most red-heads, you couldn’t tell his age, spoke with such passion and conviction that I was both validated in my own work and inspired to continue. Dr. Benson introduced us to his term “Spark.” Which is a fun and “sticky” term for what others have called your dharma, unique ability, gift, destiny, or life’s purpose. Benson’s plan for awakening their spark, gives each child the power to fall in-love with their own lives and with all of life – to not only survive but to thrive. Benson exhorted teachers specifically to ask children about their “spark;” and to all of us generally to seek out and to learn what is our own personal “spark” or purpose in life.

I have long spoken of and written about the dramatic need we have as a society to learn early what we are here to do and to proceed with that purpose with all our hearts and souls. I, and it seems I am not alone, believe that in one generation alone, we could shift the direction of humanity toward a more peaceful and compassionate world - if we were to take this idea seriously. Not only should it be sought out in our classrooms, but it should be talked about in our living rooms and kitchens. Children should not be surprised, as Dr. Benson shared from his experiences, but should expect to be thinking about and exploring their spark. We should be cultivating a generation of unique sparks, throwing fuel to their flames and igniting a new generation of hope. It was pointed out, by His Holiness, that sometimes a child’s (or adult’s) spark might be negative. To which, Dr. Benson acknowledged and to which he determined we must develop tools to help guide those few (very few according to his research) back toward a more positive and rewarding direction.

I came away from those two days in Washington, D.C. with a renewed dedication to practice, practice, practice. But I am reminded that practice isn’t only a means to an end, but a way of life – an occupation, a custom. We need a custom of cultivating compassion. By practicing meditation, I have more choices – in thought, emotion and action. By practicing kindness, I find reward. By practicing compassion, I become a better person and I affect the whole of us. By practicing or living my Spark, I am more at peace, and am more fulfilled. I extend the invitation to practice, to cultivate with reason and purpose, compassion for yourself and for your fellow human beings, no matter their age, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, party affiliation, class, bank account balance, credit report rating, car driven, house lived in, food eaten, weight, height, health or disposition. All 6 billion of us are One.

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” – Henry David Thoreau

Educating World Citizens for the 21st Century Esteemed Speakers:

• Tenzin Gyatso, the XIV Dalai Lama
• Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
• Peter L. Benson, Ph.D.
• Martin Brokenleg, Ph.D.
• Ronald E. Dahl, M.D.
• Linda Darling-Hammond, Ed.D.
• Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D.
• Jacquelynne S. Eccles, Ph.D.
• Marian Wright Edelman, J.D.
• Nancy Eisenberg, Ph.D.
• R. Adam Engle, J.D., M.B.A.
• Daniel Goleman, Ph.D.
• Mark Greenberg, Ph.D.
• Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D.
• Takao Hensch, Ph.D.
• Anne Carolyn Klein / Rigzin Drolma, Ph.D.
• Linda Lantieri, M.A.
• Kathleen McCartney, Ph.D.
• Matthieu Ricard, Ph.D.
• Lee S. Shulman, Ph.D.
To order the complete and unabridged DVD of the conference: http://www.educatingworldcitizens.org/ewc_dvd.html

Wellness Works in Schools™ was created and launched in 2001 by Kinder Associates. Its effectiveness is proven through nine years’ historical data as well as past (2008-2009) and present (2009-2010) research studies by Millersville University. www.kinderassociates.net, www.wellnessworksinschools.com

The Work Before You (and me)

2009-09-29T15:04:00.002-04:00

“Don't waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I just finished Barbara Kingsolver’s, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (AVM).” To say that it had a profound effect on my already intense desire to be self-reliant is an understatement. To be fair, I have wanted to move to a farm for several years. I have known that space to grow our own food, raise our own livestock and produce our own energy, was something we would need not just desire. I had embraced it as inevitable since reading the book, “The Long Emergency.”

I have always been one who, both out of necessity or personal drive, would pick up a book or tool and try it myself. “How can it cost that much? Surely I can figure this out on my own and save some money.” More times than not, I did learn how to do the process myself, but I am not sure how much money I saved in the long run. I don’t mind too much though; I now have a quiver full of skills that make me feel better prepared to deal with what ever comes up. It is my way of finding security while never having much money. We all have our coping skills.

AVM fed my natural propensities and educated me along the way. I found myself chomping at the bit to buy a farm, meanwhile struggling to maximize the space we now have. I don’t want to want, and in the process be unhappy. I love our house, our yard, our little pool, our gardens, our space. I just want more of it, space that is. But not wanting to be ungrateful, pining away the months till we could afford it; I stopped looking at local real estate listings for acreage far exceeding our .23 we so fully inhabit.

In the meantime, I will not stop pushing our family into wiser purchases, especially regarding food. Label reading now takes up the majority of the grocery store experience. It is a complicated and often frustrating excursion down a very long lane away from natural, healthy and local food supplies. Our family has tried to eat healthy food for sometime now – not always organic, but at least whole grain. Now we have added the local component and it is amazing how many questions we seek an affirmative answer to, before we can throw it into the cart, guilt-free. Is it healthy? (Whole grain, organic, or fresh.) Is it organic? (No chemicals used in its production.) We really do wonder at how we have become a society that is okay with eating chemicals! Is it local? (Was it raised in our county, or state or how about even in this country?) We were recently shopping at Trader Joe’s – a store that has long been a favorite for healthy, and yet not too expensive, food choices. I picked up a bag of dried cranberries – they were grown in Massachusetts. They would have been shipped to California to the Trader Joe's packaging plant, wrapped up in plastic, (manufactured from petroleum products) and then shipped back to us on the east coast. That’s a lot of fossil fuel for a pound of cranberries. I decided not to buy them but to look up where in Massachusetts I could buy direct, hoping to save the environment- one purchase at a time. I don’t want to knock Trader Joe’s; they are trying to do their part in providing healthier food options for our families, and future generations, at a decent price. I just can’t reverse what I have learned. I can’t not know, that I am part of the problem of fossil fuel dependence, risking our local economy, our national security and the health of the planet for my children and grandchildren, just by my buying habits, and not change. I am not above being a hypocrite on occasion, but this is beyond my ability to ignore for convenience or habit.

Little by little, we are determined to make different choices with our dollars and sense. We spent $45 for an apple masher but I wouldn’t spend .45¢ for an apple that isn’t grown right here in Lancaster County. And why would I? We are so lucky to live in the heart of Amish country, where home-grown often takes on religious affiliation. But still even here, with our ump-teen farmers’ markets, you can find apples from up-state New York, Washington State, or worse, New Zealand. Why? I am not quite sure. We have some really great orchards just down the road. Awareness is growing however. Our local chapter of Buy Fresh, Buy Local is gaining in numbers and influence in our county. We are volunteering to help them to educate others. My daughter and her friends, all twenty-somethings, are hoping to help enlighten their own generation. I agree with Barbara Kingsolver, how can we have raised a generation that is so disconnected from their food and where it comes from? I suppose it was a slow decent into ignorant convenience.

Once you start back up the road to food origin enlightenment, you can never go back. You wake up one day and wonder, with true and deep incredulity, shaking your head all the while - how did we ever get so far gone?

Still, for our little family, we are determined that it is not too late. We are not purists, by any stretch. But day by day, and week by week, we are trying to put our dollars to better use – in our local economy and in better choices for health and our future. “…any year in which no high-fructose corn syrup crosses my threshold is pure enough for me.” (BK)

I do recognize that not everyone will go to the lengths that Barbara has gone and that I hope in time to imitate. I found myself more like Barbara every chapter I read. Toward the end of the book, she wonders how geeky she must seem, by how much she actually enjoys growing, harvesting and canning food. She reflects on what is fun and what is work and how, for her, they are often much different than what society accepts. I am afraid I am cut from that same cloth, wondering how work became a four letter word, especially to our youth. I find it the most rewarding activity available to us. Perhaps, it is due to how often we preform “work” that isn’t connected to the earth or our true survival needs; after all it isn’t hand-crafted, hand-made or home grown. We don’t see or know the beginning nor the end of the products we often spend hours upon hours creating. We simply “work” in an ethereal process, receiving another insubstantial product in return (decimal points on a balance sheet or computer terminal), which we watch dwindle as we trade it for chemical food and unnatural fibrous lodging. Most of it is made from fossil fuels and created in laboratories. It’s sterile and disconnected and it makes us an unhappy and doomed society. That kind of work would invoke multiple expletives. The newest generation can see that the emperor has no clothes and they run.

I am determined that that is not the end of the story for America or our family. Thank you Barbara Kingsolver and Steven and Camille and Lilly. Thanks for the education, entertainment and encouragement. “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” would take an honored spot on my book shelf if it weren’t loaned out continually – it’s the best way I know to help others ascend from the depths of ignorance and mediocre food. We are all learning how to feed ourselves again and in the process coming to understand that work can be rewarding and even fun.

"I believe you are your work. Don't trade the stuff of your life, time, for nothing more than dollars. That's a rotten bargain." – Rita Mae Brown

Links to Sites, Articles and Books in Alignment with the Messages of "the 100th human"

2009-09-23T12:24:00.002-04:00

Divine Way of Spiritual Heart
Contemporary knowledge about God, Evolution,and the meaning of human life. Methodology of spiritual development.

America's Selective Nostalgia

2009-09-17T11:04:00.002-04:00

Its more a deep sense of dread and loss rather than a thought-out decision against a single black man who happens to be the president of the United States of America. We have a bad case of selective nostalgia - American's think that select ideals from our past should hold true long into our future. Don't get me wrong, I agree that there was a simplicity in our lives long ago, that I often long for. When you consider that most of the daylight hours were consumed with our own efforts to feed ourselves and survive what nature decided; lives were more simple and to the point. But, we no longer live in that world. Most of us are completely disconnected from our sources of food. Giant and Savemart have taken the place of nature - they are more predictable, price increases notwithstanding. We sit at desks and push buttons all day to earn a piece of paper that we exchange for our daily ration of food and shelter. And though we have fully adopted this behavior as normal, we insist that we must hold onto cowboy justice and white supremacy - both founding ideals in the American way. And should anything seem to risk those things, well by golly - we'll fight to the death.

I find it an ugly irony that we condone the rape and destruction of our land and food sources by corporate conglomerates, and further allow them to out and out steal any future our children might have, all while insisting that "Joe" be allowed to openly carry any type of gun he wants on his hip, citing his right to thwart the government should it get too big for its britches. And how dare a black man think he can change America for the better, he obviously just wants to give his kind more of a hand-out.

Life in American today is a far cry from the days when this country was founded. We have explored capitalism and industrialism to a bitter end; an end many don't want to see or take responsibility for. Greed and survival-of-the-fittest mentality has been white-washed and re-sold to American's again and again as patriotic and our founding father's wishes. But the reality is, American life is a complex web of ideas, dreams and vocations. If we get our heads out of the sand and realize that some things MUST change, we can regain our sense of pride in country and ideals. Those changes must be systemic. You can not insist that the government is always the boogy man while corporations lurk beneath every bed and in every closet. You can not demand your right for personal justice when our cities, schools and neighborhoods know none. You can not scream for your right to supremacy (especially in a Joint Session of Congress) if you do not have a better idea to offer - no matter your skin color.

We have to consider the whole, not just isolated aspects of our ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We can no longer demonize one group while elevating another, just as potentially dangerous, group. What's the point? What do we need to think, feel, create and innovate as response to the real and present American life, and what we might want for our future. A government that is helpful and not harmful, a business that is fair and not monopolizing, a reality where wealth is not the only power, but ideas and innovation and yes hard work are elevated to leadership. American's like to idealize hard work- of course we have put it so high on a petal-stool that we no longer understand its true merit. Bytheway, fighting - though it may tire you, is not the same as work.

It's time to stop screaming at one another and get to work in making America a leader again. A leader of youth, ideas and hard work. If you haven't got a good idea, please just shut-up.

Thought Connections with Rick Smyre's Transformation Leadership

2009-09-16T11:18:00.002-04:00

In the last few days, I have read Leadership in Transformation and The Three Triangles of Transformation by Rick Smyre. If you have noted that I am reading multiple articles by Rick, you’d be on target. Rick is a new friend and as you will read, I am finding his writings both thought-provoking and validating. I highly recommend you read Rick’s articles for yourself at Communities of the Future.

I have made many new thought connections with Rick’s writings and from within my own work and the work that I hope to do in the future.

In the following list, I present several of Rick’s thoughts and ideas and where those led me within my own work. I apologize for my representing Rick’s extensive and well-thought out writings in such a short and pithy idea list. However, as I read though the articles, I found my mind making quick and sometimes new links that were both fun and insightful, I tried to capture some of that process here.

1. Continuous Innovation – just this idea makes my heart sing. I have said more than once that innovation is one of my most favorite words. In my opinion, to introduce new ideas, methods and tactics is one of the most exciting gifts we have available to us. When contemplating our need for continuous innovation, I am reminded of how much I personally want to connect with others who consider this not only one’s life work but in actuality, a personality type or compulsion. However, as I stated in my last blog, we must always evaluate what we are creating. I, personally, can very well get caught up in the excitement of innovation itself without keeping my eye on the real goal of increasing, fostering and protecting our Quality of Life. Continuous Innovation within this framework is not only exciting but paramount to success in business, social change, educational advancements, political healing and moral equality but also in shifting the consciousness of the planet. (The 3rd Key = Infinite Possibilities)

2. Interdependence –this concept and its reality is in alignment with my beliefs and work. I think we are already dramatically and completely interdependent on each other. But since not everyone understands this, with the awareness can come change. How and what we think about dictates what we are feeling and what we are feeling dictates what we will do and how we will act. So as Einstein reminds us – Change your mind! (also linked to the 4th Key = We are One)

3. What is the Strategic Framework for the future? I believe that we can know what the future holds if we are consciously aware and connected to the place where all things reside. Especially, if you consider that “future” is an outdated construct in and of itself. Realities exist now, which one will we choose? This leads us to individual and collective choice. Now Rick’s point makes even more sense to me: We can not underestimate the power of many small groups connected and engaging in Generative Dialog. (i.e. Obama’s election to President)

4. The 8 Keys from “the 100th human” provide a strategic framework:

a. Living on Purpose – What is your place in the web of humanity?
b. Hearing the Silence – Find your Values, Quality and Connection to Life
c. Infinite Possibilities – All Innovation is possible; Emergence awaits us.
d. We are Connected – Interdependence is our natural state.
e. Correctly Identified – Find the Power, Creativity and Focus you need.
f. Free from Fear – In the moment, through connection, fear is replaced with faith, not in the unseen, but in what IS.
g. Gratitude’s Gift – Focus, and Transformative vocabulary can change your life.
h. Love’s Breakthrough – The magical moment exists in each of us – a continual change of state.

5. I believe the reason self-organizing and emergence works is due to the fact that we have within each of us the blueprint – like a hologram we each contain the picture of the whole. Complexity is human – an individual’s take on it, if you will. Complexity is one of the great gifts of humanity and yet one of our biggest challenges also – the grand experiment. Paradoxically, so in simplicity, which is also our connection to the divine.

6. Creating capacities and context for change -environments where people can come to their own conclusion of change. This is an interesting prospect – this assumes a certain amount of personal integrity on each individual’s part. I am not saying I disagree, just wondering if the soil is barren for some reason or other, if a seed and sunshine and water are enough. Though we may all have the whole imprinted on our souls, some may have been poisoned. I am not one to believe in evil, per se. More, I think that there are those who have chosen a difficult path, and in that process, teach us what only defiance, distraction and deviance can teach us… Still, creating the environments is worthy - especially for those who can receive and grow – creating capacities for transformation – isn’t this what the whole story of “the 100th human” is about? (The 8th key – Love’s Breakthrough) This is what I consciously choose to be about everyday.

7. I believe whole heartedly in the transformation from duality to convergence – though I see and believe it merits and inevitability; I wonder at how long this might take. I see how much we still learn from duality. Its death is imminent but is it at hand? Your thoughts are welcome…

8. Mapped for Good – an organization I have been working on – visual concept mapping - innovation at a Human Design level – the conceptualization in pictures of ideas and connections – a living, dynamic strategic framework. “If you can see it, you can do it.” In this case, would not seeing also be “seeding?”

9. State of Change in America – blog I wrote last October – not new, but more evidence of how in sync some of Rick’s ideas are with mine.

10. As I see it, the biggest hurtle on the way to Transformational Change is Fear. Fear can and will cripple the possibilities for our future. I have seen it again and again. Where we still trust in superstitions, fear will get the better of us. We must have a personal connection to what is true, real, eternal, love, god, silence, unified field, consciousness, or whatever you want to call it. Only in this connection can we venture out of fear. Bravery alone will not move the whole (6.8 billion of us). It is in this connection that we find faith to move the mountains we have made for ourselves. Within the core of this connection is a shift in focus – it is fundamental. Within this connection we can see our own representation of the whole picture, at this point emergence, Transformation can and must happen.

11. The time elapse between Ridicule and Intuitive Agreement (Rick outlines 3 steps in the Natural Journey of a New Idea: Ridicule, Antagonistic Response, Intuitive Agreement) is directly proportional to the level of pressure and heat applied. In other words, Pain and Pleasure. We will always seek to avoid pain and increase pleasure. How we associate these differ. But find those personal or universal touch points and change can happen more rapidly. There are definable patterns in the complexity – and some of them aren’t so weak ;)

12. I have to echo Rick’s thoughts on Cooperation versus Collaboration!

“Cooperation is based on the idea that different groups decide what are their goals and objectives, and then come together to determine the commonalities of their needs and programs of work.

Collaboration occurs when people come together before they start to define their needs and objectives, and develop them together. In so doing, they reflect an understanding that, in a constantly changing world that is increasingly complex and interaction, ‘we need to help each other succeed.”

Cooperation is fulfilling only for the short term and in comparison to environments without cooperation. Collaboration, on the other hand, feeds the soul(s)!

13. Identify early adopters and bring together in small groups. I love this. You can NOT underestimate the power of many small groups engaging in generative dialog! Creative Conversations – personal dialog that emits energy and invokes action – my most favorite pastime! How do you translate this into a job that pays the bills? Anyone?

Brava Rick! I fully enjoyed this process. I hope it is not too cryptic, if so, please read Rick Smyre’s articles at Communities of the Future and see where your thoughts take you!

Quality of Life

2009-09-11T10:26:00.004-04:00

Today I had a chance to read one of Rick Smyre’s articles, “Transforming the 20th Century Mind.” Just before reading this I watched President Obama's Heath Care speech. I wonder if, “the living, reigning republicans will adapt to the changes in the environment - the extent to which they can do so successfully will determine their place in the evolutionary scale." (Please excuse the Richard Restack adaptation. :)

Yes, we are rushing to create more things - to go faster and faster. For fast's sake? To prove what? Wasn’t the universal goal supposed to be Quality of Life? We wrongly associated all increases in Quality of Life to having more money. Now all we pursue is money. In all the rush and the single-minded quests for greenbacks, isn't Quality of Life what we have lost the most? We have worked so hard to alleviate and subcontract manual labor that we have lost the inherent and natural gift of fulfillment that permeates our lives from having done an honest days work with our own hands. We are so efficient with our food mass-production that our soil is barren, our meat unnatural, our vegetables vitamin-less and our health clinics full, attending to chemical-related diseases and immune deficiency disorders. All this while selling our own souls to some soul-less corporation, helping it to create greater and greater profits while we take home less and less pay, in an ever cost-inflated world. Is this the Quality of Life we have sought so desperately, at all costs to enhance - with machines, efficiencies, out-sourcing and speed? I'll take a day in my own "back forty," plowing my own vitamin-rich potatoes, tomatoes or corn any day. I will have full lungs of fresh air, fully stretched muscles, fulfillment in the direct cause and effect of my labor and a full lauder at the end of the season. Nature is not something to be rushed and neither is Quality of Life. It comes in the slow, quiet moments of life when we stop to realize how damn lucky we are, how unbelievably fortunate we are to be alive and how blessed we are to know we can make a direct difference in our world by our daily choices in work and in play.

We often ask, “Can we do this or that?” We barely stop for the answer, so driven are we to succeed - to prove that we can. But should we do this or that? Before we launch into creating, for its own sake, inventing because we can, innovating to make work less and less valued; wouldn’t it be better to ask ourselves if we should. If we do create, invent or innovate such a thing, will it increase or decrease Quality of Life? Will it make me feel more fulfilled in life, more connected to the things that I hold most dear- will it give me more pause to be thankful or will it suck my soul dry in the end and only create a more mechanized world that alienates me from all things good and true?

I understand we want choice. We want freedom. We want comfort. But why? To what end? I do not wish to take these unalienable rights away, nor do I wish to discard or discount the value of innovation. Farmers are some of the most innovative people I know. And I fully realize that some are neither interested nor inclined to farm, green thumb notwithstanding. I only suggest that we ask the right questions before we rush in and do things and that we remember the gifts of working with our hands. I am reminded of the movie "WarGames." When the mega-computer (WOPR - now a dinosaur in comparison to today's computers) learned in the end, after going through every simulation possible in the war of the worlds, that there could be no winner and therefore was no point. "How about a nice game of chess?" it wisely concludes. Ah chess, a slow, thoughtful game, played intimately with one other player; where cause and effect are instant and benign.

Should not a "futures institute" also have at the basis of every idea, every hypothesis and following every emergent eureka moment, the self/society-imposed law that the answer to “Will this create a better Quality of Life?” be a resounding –YES! Would it not be prudent to have, as part of the futures institute, pubic innovation workshops where each person could enter and with the guidance of a facilitator be able to prove out one’s ideas, create a prototype and test whether or not it would increase actual Quality of Life for the innovator and the wider web of people, places and things that are connected to him or her. If the answer be yes, then there would be available avenues and opportunities for further advancement. But should the answer ultimately be No, it is left in the library of ideas, archived and cross-referenced for the next “genius” to enter.

I fully agree, the need for training and understanding of the chaos/complexity theory is much needed, and not without what we have learned both in the composite and specifics of our outcome/efficiency driven past. I once naively repeated in a training a line that I had heard prior – “Forget about the past, it has no real power to influence the present or future unless you give it that power.” I will not forget the simple response from one of the attendants. "But then how do we learn from our mistakes?" Great question. We can not allow our collective or individual past dictate what the future holds. We must, as Einstein directs, change our minds to change our world. But for many of us hard-headed learners, past mistakes provide a powerful incentive to change ones mind and course.

Will not the future emerge no matter our level of awareness? Is not truth true no matter the number of believers? Probably. Yet, in a million years, the earth will spin, the sun will shine and plants will cover her surface. Whether or not humanity still exists to take part in that development is up to how aware we are now of the truth and how tuned-in we are to our possible future and the process of its emergence. We must, as Rick explained to me, define the strategic framework (since a plan with outcomes and even a clear process now often eludes us), and we must also keep the determination of Quality of Life as one of, if not the most important question we continually seek to answer in all that we do. Finally, we should regain our appreciation of hand-made, hand-spun and home-grown. For if humanity does have a place in earth’s future story; it will be as each one of us takes our place as a member of a local community, where hand-sewn and hand-shakes are so much stronger than any corporate efficiencies or governmental allowances.

My Interview with Dr. Gabriella Kortsch

2009-07-16T07:20:00.001-04:00

Antidote to an Apocalypse

2009-03-06T13:12:00.005-05:00

Antidote to an Apocalypse
Will December 21, 2012 be the end of the world?

If you study the Mayans and their philosophy, you will find that their social, economic and spiritual systems were built on cycles. Cycles go around, the end of one cycle is always the beginning of another. December 21, 2012 is the end of a 5125 year cycle called the Long Count Calendar. The Mayans measured long time periods by means of a Long Count, in which one 360-day year (a "Tun"), consists of 18 x 20-day "months" ("Uinals"). Twenty of these Tuns is a Katun; 20 Katuns is a Baktun (nearly 400 years); and 13 Baktuns adds up to a "Great Cycle" of 1,872,000 days, ( 5200 Tuns, or about 5125 years).

The Mayans used the stars (Astronomy) to correlate their cycles and were actually quite advanced in many of their calculations. They also had a complex religious system that worked in tandem with those cycles. Like most religious systems, there were plenty of warnings and predictions about what would happen if people did not adhere, get in line and amend their ways. These predictions, along with the current state of affairs around the globe, and the prognostications of many famous and not so famous personalities, have all contributed to the belief that December 21, 2012 must mean the Apocalypse is coming.

What do I think? I think it could happen and I think that it could not. We certainly have the ability and the technology to destroy ourselves. Catastrophe lurks about until the moment it strikes. I think it could happen today, or it could happen December 21, 2012. However, I think we can still decide what the future will bring and that it is written by the decisions we make today.

A “doom and gloom” attitude is easy and ultimately selfish, alleviating our responsibility to change. It is hope and love and encouragement that are hard work and selfless. Tomorrow never really comes. Today is what is most important. Today is all you have and all you need. We can decide what December 21, 2012 will bring by what we do today!

In my novel, the 100th human, I used the story of the Mayan calendar as the backdrop, borrowing its timing to convey the urgency I feel is needed by all - to stop, pause, reevaluate and make a better choice. At the end of the book, I unveil what could happen December 21, 2012 if we were to create it.

Many are addicted to drama, they work hard to stir up fear and anxiety. The Mayan calendar, along with other predictions are prime fodder for that fire. But instead of running around like Chicken Little, claiming that the sky is falling; I would implore you to stop and assess what you are doing now. If the sky falls, which it might, what were you doing the moment it fell? If your life was to end, what would be your last act? Your last thought? What are you going to do now?

The Mayans, the Aztecs, the Olmecs, the Egyptians, the Hopi, Scientists, Edgar Cayce, Nostradamus, Crop Circles, Aliens and Hollywood may all predict that the end is near, and they may be right. But endings always bring new beginnings. What will the ending look like? No one really knows; I sure don't. What will the new beginning look like? Now that's a better question and one you can start working on now. You can create a new beginning now, each day, in each moment of your life.

Don't think I am ignoring the signs or putting my head in the sand, or trying to debunk any or all of the predictions or beliefs that are out there. I am not. I am only trying to point out that you can not do anything about tomorrow if you are ignoring today. Your power over the future exists in this moment and the choices you are making now. If you are choosing fear and drama, you will create more of the same. But if instead you have decided to embrace the 8 Keys to Personal and Global Transformation and to share them with as many people as you can, then if the Apocalypse comes, it will look much different, I promise you!

What are the 8 Keys? I encourage you to read the book, the 100th human. The most effective way to assimilate ideas is through a story and this is an important story with an important message. But so as not to deprive anyone of the Keys, they are:

1. Live your Life on Purpose
2. Seek out the Silence that breathes life into all things
3. Open your awareness to ALL Possibilities
4. Honor your Connection to All people
5. Stay Identified with God and not the things of this world
6. Be in the Moment and don't let the past or future create Fear in your heart and mind
7. Feel Grateful for All the blessings you receive
8. Remain humble and surrender yourself to the power of Love to Transform your existence.

Learn more about the 8 Keys at www.the100thhuman.com
Share2Shift - Share the 100th human to Shift the planet!

Make a commitment to learn and embrace the keys, to share the keys and to create a better world for tomorrow, today. December 2012 is only a few short years away. What we make of that day, the end of the Long Count Cycle, is up to you and me, by each decision we make today. Together we create the Antidote to the Apocalypse. Share the Antidote to the Apocalypse. Join our community - collectively we make a huge difference. "Reaching critical mass just got personal!"

You can change the world.

2009-02-22T21:58:00.004-05:00

You can change the world. A few of you believe me. A few more want to believe me, but really don't. Many don't really believe it at all and most think it's just plain craziness. Someone asked me recently if I would change the name of my book, "the 100th human." The answer was and still is, absolutely not. That name represents my unfaltering belief that you and I can change the world.

People have always needed reminding of how much influence they really have. "No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." is from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation XVII. written by John Donne in 1624, nearly 400 years ago. Martin Luther King said in 1963, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Whether it be justice or life and death, we are all interwoven in an elaborate quilt of life. Naturalist John Muir said, "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." I find it ironic how often we feel so alone in light of this truth. But it is the truth, you can and do change the world - whether it be for good or not is up to you.

Today, the internet has leveled the playing field and made the global canvas accessible by which you can make your mark, whether a broad stroke or a tiny indent, the effect is still evident. Should you choose to really lead, to really step out and step up, your voice can be heard by millions; Youtube and email and Myspace have seen to that. What will you say? How will you affect the rest of the world?

I will tell you a secret: If you do not learn the power of service, you will live in fear. For it is in service to others that we find faith. And faith is required to really change the world for good. As Seth Godin explains, "The only thing that is holding you back is your lack of faith. Faith that you can do it. Faith that it is worth doing. Faith that failure won't destroy you." But the next part of that, the real way in which faith empowers you, is in your knowing that you are serving another. Because when you see how your actions directly help, serve and encourage another human being who is in desperate need of your help, service and encouragement; then the focus is not on you any longer. Your fears thrive when you are focused on yourself. How do I look? What are they thinking of me? How will they interpret my actions? What will history write about me? Will I be laughed at? Am I smart enough? Am I good enough? All of these thoughts create fear and eventually stagnation. But when you are actively involved in serving another, fear falls away and faith takes hold like a bolt of electricity, empowering you to do amazing things. All of a sudden, you won't care what "they" think. You will know that what you are doing is so very needed. You can see the effect in the eyes of the people for whom you serve. I believe that Barack Obama cares not what the nay-sayers are dribbling onto pages regarding him. He is far too focused on helping and serving in the most effective way he can. He is far too focused on the people loosing their homes, and jobs and families. He has chosen to serve at one of the very highest levels of commitment. You will only see him falter, if he takes his eyes off of those he has chosen to serve and begins to focus on himself. I pray that day never comes.

But what about you? Who do you serve? What do you trade your life for? What do you spend the hours doing? If you are not doing something that you can get passionate about and know how it improves the life of another, than you are not doing the right thing. And fear has a permanent home in your heart and mind.

As for me, my way to serve is to teach about the 8 Keys. I know that when we remember them, apply them and live by them, we are happier, more fulfilled, more at peace, and closer to the potential of who we all can be. I have seen and felt the effect of these keys on myself, my family, my friends and my readers. I have seen lives change for the better. When my focus shifts from me, to teaching others these truths, to people who I know want and need them; fear is immediately replaced by faith. And I know again what I must do. I must stand out and stand up and write and speak. And I will remind myself each time I feel fear, that my focus needs to shift to those who need the 8 Keys to transformation. This is my service to the rest of the world.

Join me in learning, living and sharing the 8 Keys. If you have read "the 100th human," and it changed your life, made you think, reminded you of what you can do and be, then share it with another. Because together we - you and I can change the world.

Drowning the old story

2009-02-16T16:56:00.002-05:00

Change can happen but you have to be ACTIVE to make real change. The old stories continually play in our minds, our hearts and our lives. The ideas and the meaning we make up for past events can color present and future events. They can cloud our decisions and hinder our progress. Barack Obama titled his book the "Audacity of Hope." I believe that it takes audacity to make real change, especially the types of change we desperately need now. And that audacity inherently leads us to action. Seth Godin's new book, "Tribes" is a great inspiration for all of us who have danced around the idea of being a leader, but never fully embraced what that would really mean; mostly out of fear. Seth says, "The idea that wins is the one with the most fearless heretic behind it." WOW. That is a good swift kick in the pants. How many times have we whined about having great ideas that never go anywhere? How many times have we seen others take our ideas and run with them? How many times have we sat idly by, following what another thought was a good idea.

So in order to lead with new ideas, ideas that the world is craving, we must be audacious, heretical and inventive. But mostly we must be fearless. We must drown out the old story and actively replace it, sometimes moment to moment, with a new one! And that new story must be compelling, and innovative and emotional and applicable in order for us to believe it, and state it, and then to live it with passion. I am aware of my fears. They might be different from yours, but I bet they aren't too different. For me, I'm just sick and tired of fighting with them. I wrestle with them until I am too exhausted to do anything anyway. Enough.

It's time to make a new story. All the pain that we associate to doing the thing we fear most is now, in my mind, going to be associated to the very idea of NOT moving forward, changing or leading. No more hiding - hiding is now unsafe - embracing the thing, the people, or the change is safer! I have the audacity inside of me - it is time to give it the action it deserves.

Afraid to fail? Now failure is what you crave - because failure is absolutely necessary to succeed and the more you fail the closer you are to success.
Afraid to succeed? Now success is the only option, not giving it your whole, is like basting your soul over an open flame, until it is burnt and black.
Afraid to stand up? Now sitting or lying down is so painful that your very joints will ache, by standing (both figuratively and literally) you enliven your whole being.
Afraid of People? Now people are your passion, serving them your life, adding to their world your destiny. To shy away and not connect is so painful, so lonely, so dark and cold, that you can never choose it again.
Afraid of Heights? Now to soar through the air, to climb high, to scale the highest peak is like breathing - necessary to life. To stay low and flat is the same as being buried alive.

What are you afraid of? Change the meaning. Create a new story. Imagine it, embellish it. Write it down. Make it big! Then with audacity, with action, with passion embrace it with every ounce of your being. Because this world is so very ready for your ideas! They are demanding them, now!

Stop getting so good at following, begin learning how to lead. Start by drowning the old story and becoming a heretic - and a fearless leader!

What are your ideas???

Technical Partner Wanted

2009-02-11T10:22:00.001-05:00

The 100th human, Inc. is a Pennsylvania corporation focused on the development of innovative publications, community building, and trainings centered on the 8 Keys to Personal and Global Transformation. We have developed a unique online magazine site (www.the100thhuman.com) poised to gain the involvement of major advertisers. Our Team has vision, over 80 years combined experience, and a successful track record. We have an amazingly sticky brand, true synergistic messaging, and a solid foundation for creating a massive community, giving us the leverage needed for both on-line and physical events.

We are looking for a Technical Partner (individual or company) for the long term. Skills required: Web 2.0 Programming and Development including CSS, Flash, CMS, MySQL and the ability to quickly adapt and learn new skills. Creative Web Design experience is a plus, including audio and video. Social networking and SEO Optimization highly desired. We are looking for an Internet/Technical Guru. A keen ability to communicate and willingness to work with our team is very important. Most critical is the dedication to the core concepts of The 100th Human, our values and our vision. Must be part of the tribe and have a deep desire to build the tribe to mass proportions. This is an opportunity to join and help grow a new company to major profits by the end of 2012. The 100th Human, Inc. is strategically partnered with Sunbury Press, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based book publisher.

If you are an Ace Web Programmer who is also Creative, Spiritual, an Optimist, want to be a vital part of a Team, and looking for a place to make a Real Difference in the world while building and sustaining a profitable business, then we want to talk to you. Contacti info@the100thhuman.com with qualifications and/or questions.

8 Keys Daily Prayer

2009-02-05T10:26:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday of this week the Sunbury Press Team was fortunate enough to work with nationally acclaimed author and professional coach Trina Hoefling by telephone. Trina (http://www.grouponesolutions.com/) has helped businesses and executives around the country achieve a higher level of team effectiveness and overall success. This is one more way that Sunbury Press is stepping up our efforts in business and attempting to stay in alignment with the 8 keys from our bestseller, "the 100th human" (http://www.the100thhuman.com/). We don't want to just deliver the message we want to live it.

During this coaching session, Trina was directing us on setting our intentions and staying focused. As part of that conversation, it was clear that daily mantras or prayers can be helpful in creating an atmosphere of clearity and synergy that fuels the actions of the day. It occured to me that the keys were prime for such a prayer. So I put this together for myself and offer it to you all.

Blessings today and everyday as we attempt to change ourselves and in so doing change the world!

Love,

Chris

_________________________

Today, in this moment, I intend:
1. To Live my life on Purpose,
2. To Seek out the Silence that breathes life into all things,
3. To Open my awareness to All Possibilities,
4. To Honor my Connection to All People,
5. To Stay Identified with God and not the things of this world,
6. To Be in the Moment and not let the past or future create Fear in my mind and heart,
7. To Feel Grateful for all the Blessings I receive everyday, and
8. To Remain Humble and Surrender myself to the Healing, Knowing and Power of Love - that God is.

How Do You Win A War?

2008-10-23T15:01:00.003-04:00

"Just once I'd like to hear Barack Obama say he wants to win the war in Iraq." - Governor Sarah Palin, October 2008

We hear a lot of talk about winning the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan. But I find myself wondering, how do you actually win a war? I was not raised a pacifist, nor do I consider myself one now, though I may aspire to be one someday. I was raised by “god-fearing, Christian” parents who believed in right and wrong. Everyone who was not on the side of the god-blessed United States of America was wrong. Many in our family have served in the armed forces defending our rights and freedoms. I, myself served in the United States Army many years ago, though I was in school the entire time and far from any combat. So to come to these musings is not a product of upbringing as much as a middle-aged person whose ideas of what is right and wrong have matured into actually questioning past assumptions.

Now, more than ever before, it is a time to question one's assumptions. As a business person, I would say a cost analysis of war seems prudent. Cost of War on Iraq = at least 1,277,564 human lives lost (includes 4,186 American, 1,273,378 Iraqi lives), countless wounded, and $592,613,864,699 Iraq War Cost. So what did we get for this huge expense? Saddam Hussein is dead - well despite my reverence for life, I can’t get too upset about this fact. We have secured a major oil producing country- I don’t want to get into this issue too much, but it is an outcome. We have brought democracy to a middle eastern country- kinda, sorta, maybe someday? though probably not. We have made the Iraqis safer— not really. We have made the United States safer— I wish. I guess I could get into more details on the spoken and unspoken, debatable and real outcomes of this war, but even if you find all the outcomes to be positive, which I personally do not, I still do not see the cost benefit. In business, you would never make it with this kind of ROI. Again, how can we win when we have already lost so much?

However, we are supposed to continue on for the Win? I just don’t see how transferring over a trillion dollars of American hard-earned cash to Iraq is winning. I just don’t see how losing over 4000 American military lives as a win— no matter how noble their sacrifice. I do honor our service men and women, past, present and future. But as a citizen it is my right and my responsibility to question the decisions of my government. Is this not what we are fighting for? I do see that we need oil, America’s production of oil has been in steady decline since 1970, in spite of an exponential increase in drilling. But almost $600 billion dollars (financial cost of Iraq war) would buy a lot of oil without the cost in lives.

In more general terms; what do you actually win in a war? Land, territory, money, rights, lives, freedom, power? What of these is really important? What of these is worth the cost? What of these could not be won in any other way or with any other strategy? What have we won or will we win that could possibly be seen as a clear “win?” When I think of winning something, I think of winning the lottery – a fools hope; winning a game – not usually that important; or winning an account – could make or break your business but not worth killing over. So on the eve of this year’s election, ask yourself, what would winning this war mean to you? And is it worth the price that we have already paid?

Now, if you want to ask a more pointed question, How can we win peace? The options increase exponentially. An actual plan begins to shape in the far-corners of my mind, as I unconsciously begin to roll up my sleeves for the work ahead. As Mother Theresa said, "I was once asked why I don't participate in antiwar demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there."

Isn’t it time to take off the win vs. lose, black and white interpretation of war? The problems we face are far more complex than any of us wants to admit, but we must admit it in order to have any hope of making this world better for ourselves and our children. Instead of being reactive (from a war mentality) let us be proactive for Peace and find real victory in our days to come. For I have completely lost interest in war. Winning or losing. I find Peace much more interesting. How do you win peace? Now lets think about that...

State Change in America

2008-10-23T14:59:00.007-04:00

Did someone just turn up the heat?

State Change, or more technically phase transition, in thermodynamics is the point of transformation from one state or phase to another, (i.e. from solid to a liquid, liquid to a gas, etc.), due to the effects of heat variance and pressure. I believe that we are poised for a societal state change in America. The heat and pressure are on full-blast. The financial crisis, credit freeze, and stock market crashes have the whole world in a free-fall, while the government's attempts to hang on for dear life, have had little effect. The political process has divided us not only into red and blue states but into red and blue people - while each side calls the other yellow. Oil prices and shortages, outrageous home prices, food costs and shortages - these aren't just talking points anymore. We live each day with the realities of filling our tanks or filling our refrigerators. Wars and atrocities fill the airwaves. Global warming hangs in the air like the beginning of the storm of the millennium.

In physical systems, there exists a unique combination of pressure and temperature, known as the critical point, at which the transition between states happens. For instance for water to boil, the critical point is 212 °F (100 °C) at sea level. Boiling point varies depending on environmental pressures. Sea Level, or Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP), is the indication of atmospheric pressure. This seems strikingly relevant when drawing parallels between the physical laws of thermodynamics and our social evolutionary process. If sea level is "normal," then socially we are sinking to the bottom of the sea. The depths of human error, defensiveness, protectionism, prejudice, and denial have created a social atmosphere of divisiveness, distrust, dissatisfaction and dysfunction. It is certainly hard to challenge the idea that the pressure has been turned up. As for heat, aside from the obvious parallel in Global Warming, the heat caused by the friction between what we think we deserve as "just-go-shopping-Americans" and what is in fact becoming the reality of what we can afford - both personally and nationally. One could go on and on with metaphoric parallels, but you get the idea.

So what is the unique combination of pressure and heat that will create the critical point for America - and perhaps the rest of the globe? What state can and will we change into? What would a social change of state look like? Is there anything to fear in such a change? And finally is there any evidence that it is actually happening now?

Not all the news is bad, despite what the television networks would have us believe. There are amazing developments in physics, biology, chemistry and medicine occurring right now - promising to make life easier, healthier, happier and longer. There are agreements happening between people with divergent classes, cultures and religious backgrounds everyday - here and abroad. There are mind-boggling advancements in technology - making our access to information more accessible and more expansive moment by moment. There are back-to-basics organizations embracing new ideas and offering cleaner water, healthier food, higher quality products and many new jobs right in our own neighborhoods. There are churches and organizations feeding souls' bodies and minds without hate or prejudice every single day. There are individuals offering to live a life of service to their families, communities, and even to strangers. It is happening right now. AND there is a not-so-small movement dedicated to bringing about a critical mass change in consciousness and they are your neighbors, friends and relatives - I guarantee it. However, these positive trends are not actually releasing the pressure and heat, but increasing it. Why?

At the critical point in a state change of physical systems, the molecule's behavior becomes harder to predict. You actually can't tell the difference between the liquid phase and the vapor phase. They can be both and neither at the same time. This can be dangerous at the atomic level; at which the distinction of one state and the next simply disappears. Depending on the substance changing state, this can be a very volatile environment - i.e. Three Mile Island. We see this in our society as well; good, or perhaps average, people doing terrible things. All in all, when the critical point in a state change is reached, reality gets less clear, and which phase we are in becomes indistinguishable from all the others.

What can happen during this transition could be devastating or it could be wonderful, and it could be both, which, I suspect it is and will be. "It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better." The risks are huge and the level of volatility is extremely high, but I believe the payoff is even greater.

If I were to describe what I think the new phase or state will be, I would be optimistic. We will seek out and find our true vocations versus jobs we hate, and as a society we would support those choices, knowing that if we are happy in our work, we are serving our communities better. We will be more at peace with ourselves and with each other. Less time will be filled with media, television, and video games and more time will be spent in nature and contemplative practices. We will recognize the possibilities that are available in all of life and seize opportunities to create variety, advancements and connections like never before, but with awareness and respect of the effects our creations have on the whole of us. We will find common ground with one another, recognizing that though we differ in how we look and how we think, we still have common needs, wants and dreams and we will find ways to unite, instead of ways to devise. We will define ourselves without excluding others. We will no longer define ourselves by what we own! We will no longer use fear as an excuse, as a stumbling block or as a decisive tool; but instead use it as a file to sharpen our character. We will embrace gratitude as a way of life - for all we are given, for all we have, for all we are. We will forgive and respect each other. We will discard the mindless attachment to black and white and embrace all the subtleties and benefits of what really exists. And finally, we will learn the power of love, not only for each other but for ourselves. "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." -1 Cor. 13:13

There's no way to know when we will actually reach the critical point. But I believe that we are close to a state change and that all the bad things and all the good things I mentioned, are evidence of just how close we are. We could of course, blow ourselves up. We certainly have the technology and the ideology. For sure, we cannot remain on the course we are on. The increase in heat and pressure, and the decisions we have made over an extended period of time, will have a consequence; there will be an outcome. What that outcome will be, I believe, is up to each one of us and the choices we make every single day. We must not allow the perpetual nature of this monumental change lull us into an adopted state of apathy. We must not become mindless sheep, buying into the fear that is pedaled as normal and natural. We must cling to hope, and we must be determined in our choices and assume a keen awareness of the repercussions. We must not be found sleeping as the disciples were when Jesus faced the most critical moment in his life. Your spirit must not only be willing, but strong, determined and in charge of your life. "Critical Mass just became personal" is not just a cute slogan, but just might be one of the truest statements of our time. I embrace a state change in America and the rest of the world and I know I must work to be more aware in each moment - of my behaviors and how they affect that change. How personal is it to you? Welcome the state change and be part of the choice of a better future or, by not choosing, we choose the worst outcome. As always, it is up to you.

You're Astonishing

2007-10-09T06:42:00.000-04:00

You're Astonishing,
How dare you waste it.
You have the power to change everything. To create remarkable differences in our world. To deliver. To be the best in the world.
How dare you squander your resources by spreading yourself too thin.
How dare you settle for mediocre just because you're busy coping with too many distractions in your life, racing the clock to fit them all in.
The lesson is simple: If you've got as much as you've got, use it. Use it to become the best in the world, to change the game, to set the agenda for evereyoone else. You can only do that by marshaling all of your resources to get through the biggest Dip. In order to get through that Dip, you'll need to quit everthing else. If it's not going to put a dent in the world, quit. Quit and use that void to find the energy to assault the Dip that matters.
Go ahead, make something happen. We're waiting!

From the little book: "The Dip" by Seth Godin.

Letting Go

2007-08-16T22:09:00.000-04:00

Letting Go. I find this to be one of my most difficult lessons. I get very attached to outcomes. I work hard and I want results. Who doesn’t? But it is the attachment to those results that blocks the actual outcomes we are trying to create. I have known this intellectually for a long time. And yet I still attach and I still block.

I have listened to Deepak Chopra tell me, for I am sure he was only writing this particular secret to success to me, “Awareness isn’t something you achieve. Ultimately spiritual awareness unfolds when you're flexible, when you're spontaneous, when you're detached, when you're easy on yourself and easy on others.” And yet I still attach.

I remember years ago watching an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. (I know don’t say it, it was corny, but I loved her strength and her vulnerabilities both.) In the episode called “The Debt,” Lao Ma, the fictional wife of Lao Tsu, (father of Taoism) was teaching Xena how to not let her “will” rule her life. I knew then Lao Ma’s words (Taoism coming from Robert Tapert, the writer and producer of Xena) were true. “The entire world is driven by a will, blind and ruthless. In order to transcend the limitations of that world you need to stop willing ... stop desiring ... stop hating… To conquer others is to have power. To conquer yourself is to know the Way.”

I am still mesmerized by these words. I can feel the truth in them. I can understand them and there are times when I know them. But in consistency is true knowing; something I am still working on. I am not one who enjoys repeating the same lessons. But I do and I am aware enough to recognize it. So today I am learning another level of letting go. Like an onion, I am peeling away another layer…

You can not try to let go, or to be enlightened or to be aware; you must just let go and allow. “Let go and let god…” Or maybe you have learned this lesson already and it is I who must surrender to the field of all possibilities and just Let Go.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

2007-08-13T07:27:00.001-04:00

I recently had a wonderful conversation with Steve Copeland - the writer/director and producer of "The Shift of the Ages" (http://www.shiftinages.com/) . He is an amazingly genuine human being and I can't wait to see the results of all his hard work in the documentary.

During the conversation he told me about a Hopi Prophecy. Afterwards I looked it up and I have shared it with personal friends, now I would like to share it with you.

Thanks Steve!

Hopi Elders' Prophecy

You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered. . . .

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?

Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for your leader.

Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold onto the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The time of the one wolf is over. Gather yourselves!Banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.